Sports Medicine

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is known to have a number of deleterious effects on lower limb muscle function. Alterations in muscle size are one such effect that have implications towards reductions in strength and functioning of the lower limbs. However, a comprehensive analysis of alterations in muscle size has yet to be undertaken. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the evidence investigating lower limb muscle size in ACL injured limbs...

BACKGROUND: The acute responses to cluster set resistance training (RT) have been demonstrated. However, as compared to traditional sets, the effect of cluster sets on muscular and neuromuscular adaptations remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of RT programs implementing cluster and traditional set configurations on muscular and neuromuscular adaptations. METHODS: Systematic searches of Embase, Scopus, Medline and SPORTDiscus were conducted...

BACKGROUND: Monitoring resistance training has a range of unique difficulties due to differences in physical characteristics and capacity between athletes, and the indoor environment in which it often occurs. Traditionally, methods such as volume load have been used, but these have inherent flaws. In recent times, numerous portable and affordable devices have been made available that purport to accurately and reliably measure kinetic and kinematic outputs, potentially offering practitioners a means of measuring resistance training loads with confidence...

BACKGROUND: Stretching a muscle not only increases the extensibility or range of motion (ROM) of the stretched muscle or joint but there is growing evidence of increased ROM of contralateral and other non-local muscles and joints. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this meta-analysis was to quantify crossover or non-local changes in passive ROM following an acute bout of unilateral stretching and to examine potential dose-response relations. METHODS: Eleven studies involving 14 independent measures met the inclusion criteria...

Every women's and men's world records from 5 km to the marathon has been broken since the introduction of carbon fibre plate (CFP) shoes in 2016. This step-wise increase in performance coincides with recent advancements in shoe technology that increase the elastic properties of the shoe thereby reducing the energy cost of running. The latest CFP shoes are acknowledged to increase running economy by more than 4%, corresponding to a greater than 2% improvement in performance/run time. The recently modified rules governing competition shoes for elite athletes, announced by World Athletics, that includes sole thickness must not exceed 40 mm and must not contain more than one rigid embedded plate, appear contrary to the true essence and credibility of sport as access to this performance-defining technology becomes the primary differentiator of sporting performance in elite athletes...

BACKGROUND: Running is a popular sport with high injury rates. Although risk factors have intensively been investigated, synthesized knowledge about the differences in injury rates of female and male runners is scarce. OBJECTIVE: To systematically investigate the differences in injury rates and characteristics between female and male runners. METHODS: Database searches (PubMed, Web of Science, PEDro, SPORTDiscus) were conducted according to PRISMA guidelines using the keywords "running AND injur*"...

BACKGROUND: Football is the most popular sport among women; however, little is known about the injury profile in this population. This information would help design tailored injury risk mitigation strategies that may make football safer for women. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological data of injuries in women´s football. METHODS: A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was performed up to January 2020 in PubMed, Web of Science, Sportdiscus and the Cochrane Library databases...

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization launched the Global Action Plan for Physical Activity (GAPPA) in 2018, which set a global target of a 15% relative reduction in the prevalence of physical inactivity by 2030. This target, however, could be acheived in various ways. METHODS: We use an established multi-state life table model to estimate the health and economic gains that would accrue over the lifetime of the 2011 New Zealand population if the GAPPA target was met under two different approaches: (1) an equal shift approach where physical activity increases by the same absolute amount for everyone; (2) a proportional shift approach where physical activity increases proportionally to current activity levels...

BACKGROUND: Symptom resolution is a key marker in determining fitness for return to activity following concussion, but in some cases, distinguishing persistent symptoms due to concussion versus symptoms related to other factors can be challenging. OBJECTIVE: To determine base rates of postconcussional syndrome (PCS) diagnostic categorization in healthy cadets and student athletes with no recent concussion. METHODS: 13,009 cadets and 21,006 student athletes completed baseline preseason testing...

BACKGROUND: The acute effects of resistance training (RT) set structure alteration are well established; however, less is known about their effects on chronic training adaptations. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to synthesise the available evidence on the effectiveness of traditional (TS), cluster (CS) and rest redistribution (RR) set structures in promoting chronic RT adaptations, and provide an overview of the factors which might differentially influence the magnitude of specific training adaptations between set structure types...

While there has been significant interest in the documentation of return to sport outcomes following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, the elite level female athlete has not been a focus of this research. This is despite women being at increased risk for ACL injury and considerable global growth in women participating in sport. Therefore, the focus of this review was to examine the available literature regarding return to sport outcomes in elite level women with an ACL injury. The topics of discussion focus on return to sport rates, timing and determinants of return to sport, longevity of play, return to sport performance, and further ACL injury...

Over the past several decades, periodization has been widely accepted as the gold standard of training theory. Within the literature, there are numerous definitions for periodization, which makes it difficult to study. When examining the proposed definitions and related studies on periodization, problems arise in the following domains: (1) periodization has been proposed to serve as the macro-management of the training process concerning the annual plan, yet research on long-term effects is scarce; (2) periodization and programming are being used interchangeably in research; and (3) training is not periodized alongside other stressors such as sport (i...

Previous research has suggested that concurrent training (CT) may attenuate resistance training (RT)-induced gains in muscle strength and mass, i.e.' the interference effect. In 2000, a seminal theoretical model indicated that the interference effect should occur when high-intensity interval training (HIIT) (repeated bouts at 95-100% of the aerobic power) and RT (multiple sets at ~ 10 repetition maximum;10 RM) were performed in the same training routine. However, there was a paucity of data regarding the likelihood of other HIIT-based CT protocols to induce the interference effect at the time...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Recent literature has identified that the vestibular system is often involved following a sport-related concussion. Furthermore, the consequences of vestibular and ocular/oculomotor involvement have been explored and identified as potential predictors for prolonged recovery. Although vestibular and ocular/oculomotor involvement is common following head injury, the clinical assessment strategies for vestibular function are less commonly practiced in the sports medicine setting and have limited research...

BACKGROUND: Differences in the excitability of motor generating neural pathways are reported following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) that is associated with quadriceps dysfunction and theorized to prevent the full recovery of muscle function. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to compare quadriceps neural excitability between the involved ACLR limb, the uninvolved limb, and uninjured controls, and to determine at what time intervals these differences are present after surgery...

Causal pathways between training loads and the mechanisms of tissue damage and athletic injury are poorly understood. Here, the relation between specific training load measures and metrics, and causal pathways of gradual onset and traumatic injury are examined. Currently, a wide variety of internal and external training load measures and metrics exist, with many of these being commonly utilized to evaluate injury risk. These measures and metrics can conceptually be related to athletic injury through the mechanical load-response pathway, the psycho-physiological load-response pathway, or both...

BACKGROUND: Identifying risk factors for lower limb injury is an important step in developing injury risk reduction training and testing for player monitoring. Female athletes are distinct from male athletes, warranting separate investigation into risk factors. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the literature and synthesise the evidence for intrinsic risk factors for lower limb injury in female team field and court sports. METHODS: Five online databases were searched from inception to April 2020...

BACKGROUND: The off-season period in soccer leads necessarily to changes in fitness status. However, there is a lack of systematization that allows identifying the magnitude of these changes in groups participating in off-season training programs compared with those subjected to training cessation. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effects of training cessation in off-season training programs on men soccer players' body fat, maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max ), yo-yo intermittent recovery test (YYIRT), vertical jump, sprinting time, and repeated-sprint ability...